He was standing there as though he was rooted to the ground. 71
year-old Mr. Sia suffered a stroke in 2008, just before he retired as a
PUB technician. He still has difficulty walking and tries his best to
move about as much as he could everyday.
We spoke after I gave him a packet of vegetarian beehoon. He told me he
had seen his Member of Parliament but was not happy with the outcome. He
then went on to share with me some of his deepest concerns. When he
bought his 3-room flat in which he still lives, he was drawing a salary
of $1,600. His flat cost him $28,000 and he was able to pay off his
mortgage in 10 years. He laments that his children will not enjoy the
same comfort level that he had. Even with a salary of $3,000, his eldest
daughter is unable to buy a similar flat, which now costs almost
$350,000.
His 3 children, all daughters, are living with him. Owing to the high
costs of living, they are not able to give him much monthly allowance.
He regrets having given up his pension scheme when he was a civil
servant. He puts it down to not having been given a choice at all and
even then with the CPF route , he has monies retained in his CPF account
which he could not withdraw.
He also talked about how some people would take advantage of do-gooders in his neighbourhood. Once he wanted to help someone who asked for money. When he took out $2, the man refused to accept and demanded for $10. He was completely disheartened by the experience which was echoed by another elderly man whom I spoke to earlier.
Mr. Sia tried to move his legs after talking to me and found them
immobilised. After taking my advice to do some leg stretching, he was
able to stagger slowly in the direction of his flat. Watching him walk,
there is no doubt that good health is afterall, one's most precious
possession in old age.
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